Selene finally gets the meeting she sought, and leaves with more questions than she started with.

Date:

PHD 213 (Nov 17 2009)

Related Logs:

None

Players:

......

It's been a rough couple of days for Jules. First there was the illness, the one that has her sweats soaked and her skin pallid, eyes dark ringed. Second, there's the getting the crap kicked out of her. The bruises are all over her face, one of her eyes is a little swollen. A blanket is wrapped around her tightly and she sits with her feet tucked under her on her bunk, staring off at a bulkhead.

Brig duty. Aside from Sec Hub duty, it's probably the most boring thing an MP can do on their shift…especially when the prisoner is sick, behaved well-enough, and reeling from a beating. At least Sec Hub detail has paperwork…or stocking up the practice rounds in the SAR to fill the time. The brig tonight is a somber place with Cinder on duty. She's sitting at the desk, in her marine blacks, standard ship patrol uni, her rifle next to her, propped against the desk. The only sound really comes from Cinder spinning her helmet in circles on the desk, letting the loose bun of her hair free to hang at the back of her neck.

Though she was a little shocked when the orders came down, it didn't take her very long to snap out of her surprise and head to the brig. Apparently the gods heard her prayers. Selene steps through the hatch, hoping to the gods she doesn't see Nikos or Cass here, and holding the orders in her hand so she can prove that she's permitted.

Well-behaved is a good way to put it. Jules hasn't so much as flinched in over twenty minutes. When Selene enters, that changes only insofar as the woman's eyes move to the Petty Officer and hold there, staring. Her expression is hard to read, given the givens.

When the hatch opens and Selene walks in, Cinder lifts her eyes as well. She, compared to the prisoner, is a little more enthusiastic about the visitor; something to break up the monotony, finally! I mean, she could talk to the prisoner, she supposes, but in violation of some prisoner orders. She leans forward in her chair, the front legs that had been suspended in the air reclining a bit thumping to the floor, and she pushes her helmet aside as well. Without a word, she just holds her hand up and out, signaling by curling her fingers for Selene to bring the papers to her, noticing them in the PO's hand.

Selene steps over toward Cinder, keeping her eyes from wandering, since she's not really sure she wants to start anything. The brig isn't a fun place to spend the night. "I'm here to see the prisoner," she offers to the guard, extending the hand with the papers in it. It's a memo from Ensign Nikos, clearing her for an hour visit.

Not so much as a batted eyelash from Jules. She remains sitting where she is, fists curled in her blanket. It's when Selene is handing over the papers that she coughs twice. Hard. And then draws herself up, moving over towards the toilet.

The MP reaches out to grab the papers, the smooths them out on the desk in front of her. It takes a few moments for her to read what's on there, but finally, she looks up at Selene and nods. "Alright…if the S2 says you have an hour, you have an hour." She stands from the chair, and moves to a storage locker in here, with some extra blankets and linens and things, and pulls out a folding chair, which she drags to the floor outside the prisoner's cell. To make sure she sticks to the S2's orders, she holds up her wrist, making sure that the PO sees the time. "Alright, one hour," she says, solemnly, and returns to her desk, noting the time.

Selene frowns a little and presses her lips together, then makes her way over to the chair and sits down. That's when she finally lets her eyes fall on the prisoner, wincing when she sees the bruises and the signs of illness. She opens her mouth, then closes it, before finally saying, "You were trying to warn me off, weren't you?"

The prisoner stands over the toilet, then glances over her shoulder at Selene. "Of course I was." Jules lifts her head, "I may be a machine, but I have feelings." There's a pause there and she adds, "I /care/."

At the desk, Cinder remains quiet. She doesn't know the whole story, admittedly, being a low-ranking grunt. She has her orders…and her suspicions though. Looks like Jules just confirmed one of them, and is responsible for the whole list of others. If she wants to say something, she doesn't. This isn't her conversation, and it's not her limited time with the prisoner.

Selene blinks a bit, clearly lost for words from all of that. This is the first that anyone has even suggested humanoid cylons to her, but it's the last part that really draws her attention right now. "Everyone who's spoken to you seems to think you were just using me and Gresham," the PO admits. "I came because I wanted to hear the truth, before they… do what they're hadesbent on doing." The woman looks up to try to meet Jules' eyes, though it's hard with her facing away, and all. "Please, at least give me that much."

"You don't have to be afraid of the word. Kill. They're going to kill me. I'm going to die." Jules turns from the toilet and moves over towards the bars, settling down on the floor near the base of them. "I had relationships with people on Kharon that were not related to my mission. No, I wasn't using you."

Nodding a little, Selene focuses on her knees for a little while. She has her own opinions on that matter, but she also only has an hour of time. Her voice lowers as she asks her next question, though the bugs could probably pick it up. "So was there actually something there, or am I the fool that everyone in the Corps seems to think?"

"Was it an epic love story? No." The blonde's eyes are on Selene the whole time. "That person is still out there, waiting. I cared about you." There's a hitch in her shoulders and she says, "It's okay for you to hate me." Jules fidgets with her hands some. "It's also okay to be a romantic at heart, which you are."

Selene takes a few moments to digest those words, then looks over to Jules. "I don't hate you," she replies softly. "I just wish these were different times. Out here, there's no justice, just beatings and airlockings, but back in the colonies, they'd put you in a hospital where you could get help." There's a sad, compassionate tone to her voice.

At the desk, it's inevitable that Cinder would be listening in, eavesdropping, as it were. The discussion of their romance has her raising a brow, but she still remains quiet. She'd known Selene…went that way, thanks to a little book of poetry she got the chance to look through idly at lunch one day, but she had no idea Jules was a romantic interest. Compounded with the fact that she's a Cylon…well, that'd be hard on anyone.

"So. You think I'm mentally unwell, hm?" Jules' lips twist into an ironic smirk. "If it helps you sleep at night, believe whatever you'd like. Just don't freak out when they kill me and you see me again." There's a note of optimism in her voice when she says, "Our paths will cross again."

Selene frowns a little more, looking like those words cut. "You're not a centurion. You're not made of metal. You're flesh and blood, and sick," she replies. "If there were any humanity left in us, we'd help you, but I fear that maybe the Lords were right to turn their backs on us. So much of what was virtuous in us has died."

"Besides," she adds, "once we finally set foot on the other side of the river, will the Lords forgive you and permit you in Elysium? Will they permit me? I must admit, I'm not quite ready to leave our barge of the dead."

"I didn't say centurion. I said machine. A Cylon. Man created us and we, in turn, evolved. We wanted to be more like our creator." The ex-Marine private lifts her chin a bit and stares Selene right in the eyes. "It's okay if you can't accept this. You will come to in time. You may even learn a thing or two about your Lords."

Selene frowns a little more. "That doesn't make any sense, Jules," she replies. "No one has ever said anything like this before. Why would it be believable now?"

"Well, seeing as how she's brigged for being a machine…that she says she's a machine, and that she managed to…you know, blow up the CO…are you sure it isn't believable? Has Cylon written all over it. If she claims to be a machine, but at the same time look like one of us…seems like it could be true. The Centurions I saw on Scorpia looked good deal different than the ones in the history books. Why couldn't they have come this far?" Cinder rocks back on her chair a little, looking at Selene and Jules with her eyebrows raised a bit. "Sorry to interrupt, just my two cents, for what they're worth."

"It's okay. You don't have to believe me. You'll see for yourself," Jules states with a roll of her shoulders. "For now you can pretend that I'm going to die. Why don't you comfort me. Or did you just come here for your own personal vindication?" Those last words come out a tad more biting than anything she's said previously.

Selene winces a little at the biting tone. "I'm not entirely sure I know how," she replies, sliding from the chair to sit down on the floor next to Jules, seperated only by the bars of the cell. She keeps her hands folded in her lap, so the marines should know she's not up to something. "I'm… not sure how," she replies. "When mother died, I spent the last few nights by her side, holding her hand, waiting for her to wake up and get better."

"You just have to have faith in me. It's understandable if you don't, I did something I'm not proud of. But right now you're in the midst of the forest. All you can see is trees, not the entire forest. One small piece. You won't see the big picture til it's upon you." Time for Jules to go all cryptic on Selene. "But you will see it."

Selene frowns a little and looks down. "I'm not even sure what to say to that," she responds. Even if she had time. It would seem that hers is running low.

"Say you'll think about it. Don't write me off as a nutcase, please." The blonde leans forward, fingers grasping the bars of the cell. "That's all I ask. I won't even ask for forgiveness." Jules smiles a little at that last word and presses her forehead to the bars.

Selene watches Jules quietly as she realizes that the time is up. "I'll try," she replies, "though apparently dissenting thoughts are a crime now." Lowering her voice even more, she adds, "I really wouldn't be surprised if the S2 was looking for a reason to throw me out an airlock too."

Before the philosophical talk, the cryptic stuff, Cinder is forced to interfere. At the desk, the front legs of the chair once again thunk down to the metal floor. She tries to be as gentle as she can about about, aheming, clearing her throat, and looking up at Selene and/or Jules. Raising her arm, she points at her watch, tapping the crystal with her index finger, then flashing five fingers at the two ladies.

"She won't do that because there's no evidence… because you didn't do anything. I was the one who committed the so called murder and no one else." Closing her eyes when Cinder gives the five minute warning, Jules leans against the bars for support and pulls herself to her feet. "Be well, Selene."

Selene sighs and rises to her feet as well. "May the Lords show you the mercy that the living won't," she replies softly. After that, she makes her way back to the hatch.